stinger

[sting-er]

noun

a person or thing that stings.
an animal or plant having a stinging organ.
the sting or stinging organ of an insect or other animal.

Informal. a stinging blow, remark, or the like.
a cocktail made of brandy and crème de menthe.
(initial capital letter) Military. a U.S. Army shoulder-launched, heat-seeking antiaircraft missile, with a range of 3 miles (5 km).
British Informal. a highball of whiskey and soda.

Origin of stinger

First recorded in 1545–55; sting + -er¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for stinger

Contemporary Examples of stinger

The nose—as anyone knows who ever has received a stinger from an errant baseball—has countless pain fibers.
The Writhing, Miserable Reality of Force Feeding at Guantánamo Bay
Kent Sepkowitz
May 2, 2013
“Certain weapons like Stinger missiles are extremely hard to control once they are transferred,” he said.
Syrian Opposition Leaders: We Need U.S. Weapons
Eli Lake
July 23, 2012

Historical Examples of stinger

He looked at it so closely that he did not miss even the stinger.
Her Father's Daughter
Gene Stratton-Porter
It sized up like a bad case of bee bite with me at the wrong end of the stinger.
Torchy and Vee
Sewell Ford
He shot them both and then killed the stinger that was pecking at his shins.
Cat and Mouse
Ralph Williams
There was no rumble on the Stinger, only a baggage rack and boot.
Athalie
Robert W. Chambers
My word, it was a stinger—just like as if twenty thousand wasps was at you.
Jack at Sea
George Manville Fenn

British Dictionary definitions for stinger

Stinger

noun

trademark a device, consisting of a long track of raised spikes, laid across a road by police to puncture the tyres of escaping vehicles

stinger

noun

a person, plant, animal, etc, that stings or hurts
Australian any marine creature that stings its victims, esp the box jellyfish
Also: stengah a whisky and soda with crushed ice

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for stinger

1550s, agent noun from sting (v.).

stinger in Science

stinger

[stĭng′ər]

A sharp stinging organ, such as that of a bee, scorpion, or stingray. Stingers usually inject venom.